Hinge assembly for a vehicle door

ABSTRACT

A hinge assembly for a door structure of an automotive vehicle, comprising a door-side hinge bracket mounted on a body structure defining an opening for the door structure, a door-side hinge bracket mounted on the door structure, a hinge pin fixedly mounted on the door-side hinge bracket and pivotally supported on the body-side hinge bracket, a cam member having recessed flanks which correspond respectively to closed, half-open and fully-open positions of the door structure, and a torsion spring which is anchored at its ends to the body-side and door-side hinge brackets and which is engageable with any of the three recessed flanks of the cam member depending upon the rotational position of the door structure and accordingly the hinge pin and the cam member about an axis of the hinge pin.

[75] Inventor:

United States Patent 1191 Koike;

- [5 HINGE ASSEMBLY FOR A VEHICLE DOOR Shyouic hi Koike; Tokyo, Japan I[73] Assignee: Nissan Motor Company Limited,

'Yokohama, Japan June 24, 1974 [3O] Foreign Application Priority DataJune 25, 1973 Japan .j. 48-75423 521 u.s.c1 16/145; 16/180 511 1m. E05d11/10 581 Field of Search 16/180, 182, 183, 173,

' 5 References Cited I UNITEDISTATES PATENTS 3,370,317 2/1968Marchione'. 16/145 3,820,192 6/1974 v Nakano etal. ..'..l.. 16/145 1451June 17,1975

Prirnqry Examiner-Geo. V. Larkin 1571 ABSTRACT A hinge assembly for adoor structure of an automotive vehicle, comprising a door-side hingebracket mounted on a body structure defining an Opening for f the doorstructure, a door-side hinge bracket mounted on the door structure, ahinge pin fixedly mounted-on the door-side hinge bracket and pivotallysupported on the body-side hinge bracket, a cam member having recessedflanks which correspond respectively to closed, half-open and fully-openpositions of the door structure, and a torsion spring which is anchoredat its ends to the body-side and door-side hinge brackets 1 and which isengageable with any of the three recessed flanks of the cam memberdepending upon the rotational position of the door structure andaccordingly the hinge pin and the cam member about an axis of the hingepin.

10 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures 28 |lOb..

HINGE ASSEMBLY FOR A VEHICLE DOOR The present invention relatesgenerally to body structures of automotive vehicles and, particularly,to a door structure of an automotive vehicle. More particularly, thepresent invention is concerned with a hinge assembly for the doorstructure of an automotive vehicle and, still more particularly, with adoor hinge assembly of the two-stage checking type which is capable ofholding the door structure in two different positions, viz., halfopenand fully-open positions when the door structure is open.

A conventional door hinge assembly of the two-stage checking typeusually comprises a body-side hinge bracket which is fixedly mounted ona vehicle body structure defining an opening for receiving the doorstructure. The body-side and door'side hinge brackets are pivotallyconnected together by a hinge pin which provides an axis of turning ofthe door structure relative to the vehicle body when the door structureis being moved from a closed position to a half or fully open positionor vice versa. The door-side hinge bracket carries thereon two camrollers of a cam member having two cam lobes, the cam rollers or camlobes partly projecting beyond the foremost end of the door side hingebracket. A torsion spring is anchored at one end to the body-side hingebracket and at the other to the door-side bracket and is engageable witheither of the two cam rollers or of the two lobes of the cam memberdepending upon the rotational position of the door structure about thepivotal pin. The torsion spring is thus operative to bias the doorstructure into the halfopen or fully-open position when the doorstructure is open and accordingly one of the cam rollers or one of thelobes of the cam member is brought into rolling or sliding engagementwith the torsion spring. To enable the torsion spring to impart a springforce at a satisfactory efficiency to the door structure through thedoorside hinge bracket, it is important that the cam rollers or thelobes of the cam member on the door-side hinge bracket be located atconsiderably large spacings from the hinge pin so that sufficient momentof force will be imparted to the door structure about the hinge pin whenthe cam roller or the cam lobe on the door-side hinge bracket is inengagement with the torsion spring. This results inlarge-sizedconstructions of the doorside hinge bracket and accordinglythe hinge subassembly on the door structure. Only a limited space istherefore available for accommodating the movement of the door-sidehinge bracket so that exacting restrictions are imposed on the layout ofthe hinge assembly and, furthermore, an increased cost is required forthe formation of the door-side hinge bracket.

The body-side and door side hinge brackets, the hinge pin and thetorsion spring are assembled together prior to the mounting of the doorstructure on the body structure and the hinge assembly thus constructedis bolted to the door and body structures of the vehicle when inassembling the door structure onto the body structure. Because of thelimited space available between the door and body structures, extremelytimeconsuming and laborious operations are involved in bolting the hingeassembly to the door and body structures.

lt is, accordingly, an important object of the present invention toprovide an improved two-stage checking door hinge assembly which is freefrom any of the above mentioned drawbacks of the prior art door hingeassemblies.

It is another important object of the present invention to provide animproved two-stage checking door hinge assembly which is capable ofefficiently holding the door structure in a half-open or fully-openposition when the door structure is open.

It is still another important object of the invention to provide animproved two-stage checking door hinge assembly featuring a small-sizeddoor-side hinge bracket which can be easily fabricated at a low cost.

It is still another important object of the invention to provide animproved two-stage checking door hinge assembly which has an ample spacefor accommodating the movement of the door-side hinge bracket and whichwill therefore significantly alleviate the restrictions imposed on thelayout of the door hinge assembly.

Yet, it is another important object of the present invention to providean improved two-stage checking door hinge assembly which can be mountedon the door and body structures of a vehicle with utmost ease when thedoor structure is assembled onto the body structure.

In accordance with the present invention, these and other objects willbe accomplished in a door hinge assembly which comprises, incombination, a body-side hinge bracket mounted on a body structuredefining an opening for a door structure, a door-side hinge bracketmounted on the door structure and located in association with thebody-side hinge bracket, a hinge pin fixedly mounted on the door-sidehinge bracket and pivotally supported on the body-side hinge bracket forpermitting the door-side hinge bracket and the door structure to turnabout an axis of the hinge pin, a cam member fast on the hinge pin andhaving a series of first, second and third recessed working faces orflanks which correspond respectively to closed, half-open and fully-openpositions of the door structure, and a torsion spring which is anchoredat one end to the body-side hinge bracket and at the other end to thedoor side hinge bracket and which is engageable with the first, secondand third working faces or flanks of the .cam member for biasing thedoor structure into any of the closed, half-open and fully-openpositions depending upon the rotational position of the hinge pinrelative to the body-side hinge bracket.

The features and advantages of the two-stage checking vehicle door hingeassembly according to the present invention will become more apparentfrom the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view which shows an overall construction of anautomotive vehicle incorporating door hinge assemblies to which thepresent invention is directed;

FIG. 2 is a top end view of a representative example of the conventionaltwo-stage checking door hinge assembly;

FIG. 3 is a side end view of the prior art door hinge assemblyillustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a top end view which shows a preferred embodiment of thetwo-stage checking door hinge assembly according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a side end view of the door hinge assembly illustrated in FIG.4;

FIG, 6 is an exploded perspective view of the door hinge assemblyillustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5;

FIG. 7 is a top end view of the door hinge assembly illustrated in FIGS.4 to 6, showing conditions of the hinge assembly which are attained whenthe door structure is in half-open and fully-open positions;

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view which shows a combination of adoor-side hinge bracket and a cam member in a modification of theembodiment of the hinge assembly illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 7; and

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8 but shows a combination of adoor-side hinge bracket and a cam member in another modification of theembodiment of the hinge assembly which is illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 7.

Referring to the drawings, particularly to FIG. 1, an automotive vehiclehas a door structure 10 is hingedly connected at its front end to a bodystructure 12 through door hinge assemblies 14 which are shown as two innumber. As indicated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the door hinge assembly 14 of theprior art two-stage checking type comprises a body-side hinge bracket 16having upper and lower flange portions 18 and 20, respectively and adoor-side hinge bracket 22 having upper and lower flange portions 24 and26, respectively. The body-side hinge bracket 16 is fixedly mounted on,for example, an outer member 28 of a front pillar 30 forming part of thebody structure 10 of the vehicle by means of bolts which are commonlydesignated by reference numeral 32, whereas the door-side hinge bracket22 is fixedly mounted on a front end cross member 34 of the doorstructure 12 by means of bolts which are commonly designated byreference numeral 36. The upper and lower flange portions 18 and of thebody-side hinge bracket 16 are formed with apertures 38 and 40,respectively, and likewise the upper and lower flange portions 24 and 26of the door-side hinge bracket 22 are formed with apertures 42 and 44,respectively. These apertures 38, 40, 42 and 44 are vertically alignedwith one another and receive therein hinge pin 46, as seen in FIG. 3.The door-side hinge bracket 22 is thus pivotally connected to thebody-side hinge bracket 16 by the hinge pin 46 so that the doorstructure 12 is rotatable about the hinge pin 46 relative to the bodystructure 10. The door-side hinge bracket 22 carries on its upper flangeportion 24 .two cam rollers 48 and 50 which are rotatable about axeswhich are parallel to the hinge pin 46 and which partly projectforwardly of the front end of the upper flange portion 24. The upper andlower flange portions 18 and 20 of the body-side hinge bracket 16 arefurther formed with recesses 52 and 54, respectively, which arevertically aligned with each other, s slot 56 which is located in thepath of the revolution of the cam rollers 48 and 50 about the hinge pin46, and a recess 58 which is in diametrically opposed relation to theslot 56 across the vertically aligned recesses 52 and 54. A torsionspring 60 has a bar portion 60a which is received in the verticallyaligned recesses 52 and 54 and end portions 60b and 60c which are turnedin opposite directions and which are received in the slot 56 and therecess 58, respectively. The torsion spring 60 is thus carried on thebody-side hinge bracket 16 in a preloaded condition.

When the door structure 12 is opened from the closed position shown inFIGS. 2 and 3, the door structure 1S and the door-side hinge bracket 22are rotated about an axis of the hinge pin 46. As the door structure 12approaches the half-open position, the cam roller 48 is brought intorolling engagement with the upper turned end portion 60b of the torsionspring 60 against the preload force of the torsion spring 60. When thedoor structure 12 reaches the half-open position, the door-side hingebracket 22 is in a position having the cam rollers 48 and 50 holding theupper turned end portion 60b of the torsion spring 60 therebetween sothat the door-side hinge bracket 22 is biased by means of the torsionspring 60 into the position holding the door structure 12 in thehalf-open position. When the door structure 12 is further moved from thehalf-open position, then the cam roller 50 is brought into rollingengagement with the upper turned end portion 60b of the torsion spring60 and, when the door structure 12 reaches the fully-open position, thecam roller 50 rides past the turned end portion 60b so that thedoor-side hinge bracket 22 is biased by the torsion spring 60 into theposition holding the door structure 12 in the fullyopen position. Whenthe door structure 12 is moved back from the half-open or fully-openposition toward the closed position shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the doorsidehinge bracket 22 is rotated in a reverse direction about the axis of thehinge pin 46 so that the roller 48 or the rollers 48 and 50 are for asecond time brought into rolling engagement with the upper turned endportion 60b of the torsion spring 60 until they ride past the turned endportion 60b and restore the initial positions shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.The cam rollers 48 and 50 may be replaced with a cam member (not shown)having two cam lobes which project from the door-side hinge bracket 22to provide a general configuration similar to the contour described bythe front end of the door-side hinge bracket 22 and projecting portionsof the two cam rollers 48 and 50.

In order that the spring force of the torsion spring 60 be imparted tothe door-side hinge bracket 22 with a satisfactory efficiency, it is ofimportance that the cam rollers 48 and 50 on the door-side hinge bracket22 be located at considerably large spacings from the axis of the hingepin 46 so that the door-side hinge bracket 22 is given a sufficientmoment of force about the axis of the hinge pin 46 by the torsion spring60, as previously mentioned. Such arrangements of the cam rollers 48 and50 result in an increased fore-and-aft length of the upper flangeportion 24 of the door-side hinge bracket 22 carrying the cam rollers 48and 50 and accordingly in an enlarged overall construction of thedoor-side hinge bracket 22. The enlarged construction of the door-sidehinge bracket 22 not only results in an enlarged construction of thehinge assembly as a whole but in a limited space available foraccommodating the rotational movement of the door-side hinge bracket 22about the hinge pin 46, imposing serious restrictions on the layout ofthe hinge assembly and accordingly on the design of the body and doorstructures 10 and 12 of the vehicle. From the view point of productionof the hinge assembly, the increased length of the upper flange portion24 of the door-side hinge bracket 22 will further result in an increasedproduction cost of the hinge bracket 22.

- The body-side and door-side hinge brackets 16 and 22, the hinge pin 46and the torsion spring 60 are usually assembled together prior to themounting of the door structure 12 on the body structure 10 duringproduction of the vehicle. The hinge assembly thus constructed by thehinge brackets 16 and 22, the hinge pin 46 and the torsion spring 60 ismounted on the body and door structures 10 and 12 by the bolts 32 and 36when the door structure 12 is being assembled onto the body structure ata final stage of the vehicle production line. Difficulties areencountered in thus bolting the hinge assembly to the body and doorstructures 10 and 12 because of the limited space available between thebody and door structures. The goal of the present invention is toeliminate all the above mentioned drawbacks that are inherent in theprior art two-stage checking door hinge assembly having the constructionthus far described.

Referring concurrently to FIGS. 4 to 7, the two-stage checking doorhinge assembly embodying the present invention comprises a body-sidehinge bracket 62 having upper and lower horizontal portions 64 and 66,respectively, and a door-side hinge bracket 68 having upper and lowerhorizontal portions 70 and 72, respectively. The body-side hinge bracket62 is formed with holes 74 (FIG. 6) and is fixedly mounted on, forexample, the outer member 28 of the front pipper of the vehicle bodystructure 10 by means of bolts 76 passed through the holes 74 and nuts78. Likewise, the doorside hinge bracket 68 is formed with holes 80 andis fixedly mounted on the front end member 34 of the door structure 12by means of bolts 82 passed through the holes 80 and nuts 84. The upperand lower horizontal portions 64 and 66 of the body-side hinge bracket62 have outer end portions which are adjacent to inner faces of frontend portions of the upper and lower horizontal portions 70 and 72,respectively, of the doorside hinge bracket 68. The upper and lowerhorizontal portions 64 and 66 of the body-side hinge bracket 62 haveapertures 86 and 88 formed in their respective outer end portions and,likewise, the upper and lower horizontal portions 70 and 72 of thedoor-side hinge bracket 68 have apertures 90 and 92 in their respectivefront end portions. These apertures 86, 88, 90 and 92 are verticallyaligned together as best seen in FIG. 5 and the aperture 90 in the upperhorizontal portion 70 of the door-side hinge bracket 68, in particular,is formed with axial serrations for the reason to be explained later. Ahinge pin 94 is inserted through these vertically aligned apertures inthe upper and horizontal portions of the body-side and door-side hingebrackets 62 and 68. The hinge pin 94 has an axially serrated upper endportion 96 which engages the serrations of the aperture 90 in the upperhorizontal portion 70 of the door-side hinge bracket 68. The hinge pin94 is thus splined to the door-side hinge bracket 68 through theengagement between the serrations of the aperture 90 in the upperhorizontal portion 70 of the bracket 68 and the serrations of the upperend portion 96 of the hinge pin 94. While, thus, the hinge pin 94 ispermitted to rotate about its axis relative to the body-side hingebracket 62, the door-side hinge bracket 68 is prevented from beingrotated about the axis of the hinge pin 94 or, in other words, thedoor-side hinge bracket 68 and the hinge pin 94 are bodily turned aboutthe axis of the hinge pin 94 relative to the body-side hinge bracket 62when the door structure 12 is turned about the axis of the hinge pin 94.The hinge pin 94 is prevented from being axially moved relative to thebody-side and doorside hinge brackets 62 and 68 by means of a generallyC-shaped ring 98 which is received in a circumferential groove 100 (FIG.6) formed in a lower end portion of the hinge pin 94 projectingdownwardly from the aperture 92 in the lower horizontal portion 72 ofthe doorside hinge bracket 68 (FIG. 5).

lower horizontal portion 66 and located in substantially diametricallyopposed relation to the recess 106 in the upper horizontal portion 64across the vertically aligned recesses 102 and 104.

A torsion spring 110 has a bar portion 110a extending in parallel to thehinge pin 94 and received in the recesses 102 and 104 in the upper andlower horizontal portions 64 and 66 of the body-side hinge bracket 62and upper and lower end portions 11% and 110s, respectively, which arevertically turned in opposite directions from the bar portion 110a andwhich are respectively received in the recess 106 in the upperhorizontal portion 64 and the aperture 108 in the lower horizontalportion 66 of the bracket 62. The torsion spring 110 is thus carried onthe bodyside hinge bracket 62 in a preloaded condition.

The door hinge assembly embodying the present invention furthercomprises a cam member 112 which is integral with the serrated upper endportion 96 of the hinge pin 94 and which is accordingly rotatable withthe hinge pin 94 and the door-side hinge bracket 68 about the axis ofthe hinge pin 94. The cam member 112 is formed with a working face 114(FIG. 5) which consists of first, second and third recessed flanks 114a,114b and 1146 which merge into each other through two lobes as best seenin FIG. 6. The cam member 1 12 is constantly in contact at its workingface 114 with the upper vertically turned end portion 11% of the torsionspring 110 so that the first, second or third recessed flank 114a, 114bor 1146 receives thereon the turned end portion l10b of the torsionspring 110 depending upon the rotational positions of the cam member 112and accordingly the hinge pin 94, viz., upon the position of the doorstructure 12 relative to the body struc ture 10. The first, second andthird recessed flanks 114a, 114b and 1140 of the cam member 112 are incorrespondence with closed, half-open and fully-open positions,respectively, of the door structure 12. When, thus, the door structure12 is in the closed position as q shown in FIG. 4, the cam member 112 ismaintained in a position having the first recessed flank 114a inengagement with the upper vertically turned end portion 11012 of thetorsion spring 110 so that the cam member 5 1 positions maintaining thedoor structure 12 in the closed position. When the door structure 12 isthen opened from the body structure 10, the door structure 12, thedoor-side hinge bracket 68, the hinge pin 94 and the cam member 112 arerotated as a single unit about the axis of the hinge pin 94 so that thecam member 112 is caused to slide at one of its lobes on the upperturned end portion b of the torsion spring 110 against the force of thetorsion spring 110 as the door structure 12 approaches the half'openposition. When the half-open position is thus reached by the doorstructure 12, the upper turned end portion ll0b of the torsion spring '110 is received in the second or intermediate recessed flank 114!) of thecam member 112 as indicated by a dots-and-dash line in FIG. 7 so thatthe cam member 112 and accordingly the doorside hinge bracket 68 arebiased by the force of the torsion spring 110 into positions to maintainthe door structure 12 in the half-open position. When the door structure12 is opened wider from the half-open position toward the fully-openposition, the cam member 112 on the hinge pin 94 is caused to furtherturn about the axis of the hinge pin 94 and slide at the other of itscam lobes on the upper turned end portion llOb of the torsion spring 110against the force of the torsion spring 110. When the door structure 12reaches the fully-open position, the upper turned end portion llOb ofthe torsion spring 110 is received in the third recessed flank 1140 ofthe cam member 112 as indicated by a full line in FIG. 7 so that the cammember 112 and the door-side hinge bracket 68 are biased by the torsionspring 110 into positions to maintain the door structure 12 in thefully-open position. When the door structure I 12 is moved toward theclosed position from the halfopen or fully-open position, the door-sidehinge bracket 68, the hinge pin 94 and the can member 112 are rotated ina reverse direction about the axis of the hinge pin 94 until the upperturned end portion l10b of the torsion spring 110 is received in thefirst recessed flank 114a of the cam member 112 as indicated in FIG. 4.

For the assemblage of the door structure 12 onto the body structure 10through the door hinge assembly thus far described, the body-side hingebracket 62 carrying the torsion spring 110 and the door-side hingebracket 68 are first mounted separately on the body and door structures10 and 12, respectively, by means of the bolts 78 and 82 and the nuts 80and 84 before the door structure 12 is assembled onto the body structure10. The door structure 12 is then positioned on the body structure 10 insuch a manner that the apertures 90 and 92 in the upper and lowerhorizontal portions 70 and 72 of the hinge bracket 68 on the doorstructure 12 are aligned with the apertures 86 and 88 in the upper andlower horizontal portions 64 and 66 of the hinge bracket 62 on the bodystructure 10. With the door structure 12 thus positioned on the bodystructure 10, the hinge pin 94 is inserted through the aligned apertures86, 88, 90 and 92 in such a manner as to have the serrated upper endportion 96 of the hinge pin 94 in mating engagement with the serratedaperture 90 in the upper horizontal portion 70 of the door-side hingebracket 68. The C-shaped ring 98 is thereafter mounted in thecircumferential groove 100 in the hinge pin 94 so that the assemblage ofthe door structure 12 onto the body structure 10 is complete. It is, inthis instance, apparent that the door structure 12 should be held in anopen position when the hinge pin 94 is being inserted into the apertures86, 88, 90 and 92 and the C-shaped ring 100 is being mounted on thehinge pin.

It has been assumed in the above described embodiment of the door hingeassembly according to the present invention that the hinge pin 94 andthe cam member 112 are fixed to the door-side hinge bracket 68 by meansof the splined connection between the serrated upper end portion 96 ofthe hinge pin 94 and the upper horizontal portion 70 of the door-sidehinge bracket 68. This is, however, merely by way of example and, assuch, the means to hold the hinge pin 94 fast on the door-side hingebracket 68 may be provided in various other forms, examples of suchmeans being illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9 of the drawings.

Referring to FIG. 8, the upper horizontal portion of the body-side hingebracket 62 is formed with a plain aperture in lieu of the serratedaperture 90 of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 7 and the hinge pin94, which is void of serrations, is welded or otherwise fixedlyconnected to the underside of the cam member 1 12 and is insertedthrough the apertures 90 and 92 in the upper and lower horizontalportions 70 and 72 of the d0or-side hinge bracket 68 and the apertures86 and 88 in the upper and lower horizontal portions 64 and 66 of thebody-side hinge bracket 62 (FIG. 6). The upper horizontal portion 70 ofthe door-side hinge bracket 68 is further formed with an aperture 116which is appropriately spaced apart from the aperture 90' to receive thehinge pin 94 whereas the cam member 1 12 is formed with an aperture 1 18which is located in alignment with the aperture 116 in the upperhorizontal portion 70 of the door-side hinge bracket 68. A pin 120 isinserted through these aligned apertures 1 l6 and 1 18 in the upperhorizontal portion 70 of the doorside hinge bracket 68 and the cammember 112 so that the cam member 112 and accordingly the hinge pin 94are secured to the door-side hinge bracket 68. The hinge pin 94 and/orthe pin 120 may be integral with the cam member 112 where desired. Orotherwise, the hinge pin 94 may be formed separately of the cam member112 and inserted through an aperture 122 which is formed in the cammember 112, as shown in FIG. 9. In either of the arrangementsillustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, the cam member 112 is supported on thedoor-side hinge bracket 68 at two points by the pins 94 and 120 so thatthe torque imparted to the cam member 1 12 about the axis of the hingepin 94 from the torsion spring can be effectively borne by the cammember 112.

From the foregoing description it will now be understood that thetwo-stage checking door hinge assembly according to the presentinvention has the following advantages over the prior art door hingeassemblies:

a. The closed position and the half-open and fullyopen positions of thedoor structure 12 are reliably checked and maintained by means of theengagement between the recessed flanks 114a, 114b and 114C of the cammember 112 fast on the door-side hinge bracket 68 and the end portion11012 of the torsion spring 110 which is carried on the body-side hingebracket 62.

b. The door-side hinge bracket 68 can be easily designed and formedbecause it need not carry such members as the cam rollers or be formedwith a cam face.

c. The door-hinge bracket 68 and accordingly the hinge assembly as awhole can therefore be significantly small sized, providing ease ofdesigning the door and body structures and production economy of theassembly.

d. Since the body-side hinge bracket 62 carrying the torsion spring 94and the door-side hinge bracket 68 can be bolted to the body and doorstructures 10 and 12, respectively, before the door structure 12 isassembled onto the body structure 10 and can be readily combinedtogether by the hinge pin 94 and, in the case of the arrangementillustrated in FIG. 8 or 9, by the pin as well, the door structure 12can be easily mounted on the body structure 10 through the hingeassembly.

What is claimed is:

l. A two-stage checking hinge assembly for a door structure of anautomotive vehicle comprising, in com- Y bination abody-side hingebracket fixedly mounted on a vehicle body structure defining an opening.for the door structure. a door-side hinge bracket fixedly mounted on thedoor structure and positioned in association with the body-side hingebracket, a hinge pin .fixedly mounted on the door-side hinge bracket andpivotally supportedonthe body-side hinge bracket for 'claim 3, in whichsaid door-side hinge bracket and said Q cam member are formedwithvertically aligned apertures through which said hinge pin is inserted. i

6. A two-stage checking hinge assembly as claimed in permitting thedoor-side hinge bracketuand the door" structure to turn about an axisof'the hinge pin, .a cam member fast on the hinge pinand having first.secondand third recessed flanks which correspond respec- ,tively withclosed, half-open and fully-open positions of the'door structure, and atorsion spring which is an-.

claim 3, in which said hinge pin' is integral with said cam member. a i5. A two-stage checking hinge assembly as claimed in claim 3, in whichsaid stop member is a pin fast on the l V cam member and insertedthrough an aperture formed in said door-side'hinge bracket. l

'7 A two-stage checking hinge assembly as claimed in claim 6, in whichsaid pin constituting said stop memchoredat one end to the body-sidehinge bracket and at the other end to. the door-side hinge bracket andwhich is engageablewith the first, second and third recessed flank s ofthe cam member for biasing the door structure into'any of .the closed,half-open and fullyv open positions depending upon the rotational.positionof the hinge pin relative to the body-side hinge bracket.

' 2. A two-stage checking'hinge assembly as'claimed in claim 1, in whichsaid door-side hinge bracket is 'formed with an axially serratedaperturehaving an axis ber is integral with the cam member. a a e 8. A two-stagechecking hinge assembly as claimed in claim 6, in whichsaid pinconstituting said stop member is inserted throughan aperture formed insaid doorside hinge assembly.

9. A two-stage checking hinge assembly as claimed in claim 1, in whichsaid body-side hinge bracket has spaced upper and lower horizontalportions formed with vertically aligned recesses and in which said tor-'sion spring has a vertical intermediate portion received in parallel tothe axis of the hinge pin' and the hinge pin has an axiallyserratedportion which is in splined en gagement with the door-side hinge bracketthrough said serrated aperture. l l y e 3. A two-stage checking hingeassembly as claimed in claim l', further comprising a stop member faston said cam member and fixedly engaging said door-side hinge bracket forsecurely connecting the cam member'and thehinge pin to the door-sidehinge bracket. v

v 4. two-stage checking hinge assembly as claimed in I in said alignedrecesses and upper and lower end porf tions which are vertically turnedin opposite directions l to each other and which are anchored on saidupper and lower horizontal portions of the body-side hinge

1. A two-stage checking hinge assembly for a door structure of anautomotive vehicle comprising, in combination, a body-side hinge bracketfixedly mounted on a vehicle body structure defining an opening for thedoor structure, a door-side hinge bracket fixedly mounted on the doorstructure and positioned in association with the body-side hingebracket, a hinge pin fixedly mounted on the door-side hinge bracket andpivotally supported on the body-side hinge bracket for permitting thedoor-side hinge bracket and the door structure to turn about an axis ofthe hinge pin, a cam member fast on the hinge pin and having first,second and third recessed flanks which correspond respectively withclosed, half-open and fully-open positions of the door structure, and atorsion spring which is anchored at one end to the bodyside hingebracket and at the other end to the door-side hinge bracket and which isengageable with the first, second and third recessed flanks of the cammember for biasing the door structure into any of the closed, half-openand fully-open positions depending upon the rotational position of thehinge pin relative to the body-side hinge bracket.
 2. A two-stagechecking hinge assembly as claimed in claim 1, in which said door-sidehinge bracket is formed with an axially serrated aperture having an axisin parallel to the axis of the hinge pin and the hinge pin has anaxially serrated portion which is in splined engagement with thedoor-side hinge bracket through said serrated aperture.
 3. A two-stagechecking hinge assembly as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a stopmember fast on said cam member and fixedly engaging said door-side hingebracket for securely connecting the cam member and the hinge pin to thedoor-side hinge bracket.
 4. A two-stage checking hinge assembly asclaimed in claim 3, in which said hinge pin is integral with said cammember.
 5. A two-stage checking hinge assembly as claimed in claim 3, inwhich said door-side hinge bracket and said cam member are formed withvertically aligned apertures through which said hinge pin is inserted.6. A two-stage checking hinge assembly as claimed in claim 3, in whichsaid stop member is a pin fast on the cam member and inserted through anaperture formed in said door-side hinge bracket.
 7. A two-stage checkinghinge assembly as claimed in claim 6, in which said pin constitutingsaid stop member is integral with the cam member.
 8. A two-stagechecking hinge assembly as claimed in claim 6, in which said pinconstituting said stop member is inserted through an aperture formed insaid door-side hinge assembly.
 9. A two-stage checking hinge assembly asclaimed in claim 1, in which said body-side hinge bracket has spacedupper and lower horizontal portions formed with vertically alignedrecesses and in which said torsion spring has a vertical intermediateportion received in said Aligned recesses and upper and lower endportions which are vertically turned in opposite directions to eachother and which are anchored on said upper and lower horizontal portionsof the body-side hinge bracket.
 10. A two-stage checking hinge assemblyas claimed in claim 1, further comprising stop means for preventingaxial movement of the hinge pin relative to the body-side and door-sidehinge brackets.